The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

GMVN Staff Strike
Fissures over ending stir come to the fore
Dehradun, May 14
A day after 2,000 GMVN employees called off their indefinite strike in pursuit of demands of regularisation of daily and contractual employees and withdrawal of decentralisation policy, fissures between the management and union and, between both factions - the Rishikesh-based Employees Association and Dehradun-based Employees Union came to the surface on the matter of ending the strike.

Devotees have peaceful bhandara at Rajaji Park
Haridwar, May 14
In what was being assumed to be a volatile situation with the Rajaji National Park authorities and devotees coming face to face on having religious rituals at Chamunda Devi Temple turned out to be a peaceful one. After the talks between the park administration and Andolankari Samiti members, the bhandara was held way below the actual temple site.

Devotees take part in a bhandara at the Rajaji National Park premises in Haridwar on Friday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

State faces medical staff crunch
Dehradun, May 14
Despite its best efforts, the state Health Department is unable to bridge the gap between demand and supply of medical personnel in the state. The worst affected are districts of Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, Champawat, Chamoli and Uttarakashi with scarce human resources at each level.

Murder victim identified
Nainital, May 14
The man found murdered and buried in a heap of sand in Rudrapur has been identified as Chhatrapal Patel of Kanthariya in Bareilly. It is learnt that he had previously been working as a Principal of a small school in his village and for the past some time, had been working as a security guard at an industrial unit in Rudrapur.

Two caught for murder of cement trader
Dehradun, May 14
The police has arrested two persons in connection with the murder of Saharanpur based cement trader Naeem who was found dead in fields near ISBT on April 24 in Dehradun. Two others involved in the killing, including a woman has reportedly been absconding, told sources.

Man held with pistols, fake currency
Dehradun, May 14
The Dehradun police nabbed a native of Muzzafarnagar with a gun, 14 country-made pistols and six cartridges at the Ring Road in Raipur here yesterday. The police also seized fake currency amounting to Rs 1,000 from his possession.

The police displays country-made pistols and a gun seized in Dehradun on Thursday and (inset) Shamim who was caught selling these items. Tribune photographs

Cong burns govt effigy
Dehradun, May 14
Holding the BJP responsible for not advocating the case effectively which resulted in the Nainital High Court turning down the proposal to give jobs to the fighters who fought for the formation of Uttarakhand, the Mahanagar Yuva Congress burnt effigy of the state government at the Quality Chowk Ghar here today.

Appoint doctors in govt hospitals: CM
Dehradun, May 14
A delegation of citizens from Pauri town led by local legislator called upon Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to apprise him of the shortage of doctors in the district government hospital.

Goods carriers flout norms, block traffic
Mussoorie, May 14
Vehicles transporting consumer durables are plying in Mussoorie without any hindrance much to the inconvenience of localities and tourists here.

	District Planning Committee Poll Congress pulls two candidates to its side Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 14 Breaking the built up suspense, where the Congress and the BJP nominated 12 councillors each from their parties today for 12 seats allocated for Municipal councils out of total 30 seats of District Planning Committee election, it was the Congress which stole the show by weaning away two candidates, Anuradha, a BSP candidate and Vipin Kumar Independent to its side to increase their tally from 10 to 12 to gain equality with the BJP. Sources said the BJP was trying its best to win over these two candidates to push the Congress toward a straight rout. Due to this, the BJP which released only 10 numbers of its councillors on Thursday evening left space for two more names to adjust these two names by Friday morning. But the Congress played smart by striking a deal with them by allocating two seats in Municipal Development Committee election. Both remained out of bounds and reached directly to the venue, DM office for nomination. Ashok Verma, Opposition Leader in DMC said both the candidates had been moved to an unknown location to avoid any horse trading tactics from the BJP until the polling day. Mayor Vinod Chamoli denied from the BJP’s involvement in chasing two independents to foil the game plan of the Congress. Mayor kept himself away from the selection of the 12 names of councillors in view of his animosity with state BJP leadership. He rather entrusted the task to the party itself. In the list, four women, Sangeeta Kathal, Shail Tandon, Anita Singh, Kamali Bhatt were given representation and two faces, Santokh Nagpal and Neeraj Sethi who were not member of any committee were given representation. The rest those nominated were Jivan Singh, Rajinder Singh Rawat, SS Rawat, Vipin Rana, Uday Singh Chandel, Bapu Ram. The earlier strategy by the BJP to nominate those who were not part of any committee failed when others who jostled to forward their candidature became successful. In the Congress camp, it was the councillors who finally arrived at the decision among themselves after initial hassles. Out of its 10 members, seven are those who are not holding any position in any committee. Vinay Kohli, Manmohan Dhanai and Navin Bisht- new Congress faces were introduced in any election of DMC. The other names are Rakesh Maurya, Abdul Aziz, Anand Tyagi, Rama Gaud, Mohan Joshi, Vijay Pratap Mal and Rajkumar. The Congress did not follow any set pattern or factors while deciding on the names, said Ashok Verma. He also said this kind of pressure was not expected from election (DPC) of a small stature, but when two national parties (BJP and Congress) got politically involved then they made it a question of their prestige to march over each other. Verdict will be declared on May 20 polling, after scrutiny take place on Saturday, and withdrawal just after two days of that. 26 nominations filed On the last day of nominations for District Planning Committee elections of Dehradun Zila Panchayat 16 nominations were filed in the presence of District Magistrate Senthil Pandiyan. District Vice-President of Dehradun Zila Panchayat Shiv Prasad Deoli filed his nomination again along with Surat Singh, Abha Bartwal and Tayeba. In all 14 (2 re-nominations) nominations were filed. In all 26 nominations have been filed. Tomorrow, nominations would be scrutinised. The elections on May 20 would elect 14 members to the District Planning Committee from Dehradun District Panchayats. In all there will be 37 members of the committee and seven members will be nominated.
	Sikhs celebrate Sirhind Fateh Divas Our Correspondent Mussoorie, May 14 The Sikh Community in the city today gathered in a large numbers at the Library Gurdwara to celebrate the 300th Sirhind Fateh Divas. The festivities began on May 12 with Arambh Sri Akhand Path followed by Bhog Akhand Path on the final day today. Kirtan and katha vichar were also presented on the occasion to highlight the objectives of the festivities. Raagis, dhadies, katha wachaks and religious historians chanted Gurbani kirtan and spoke on the life and achievements of disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, great warrior, and first King of the Sikh regime Banda Singh Bahadur. Member of the Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, Library Bazaar, Kanwal Jeet Singh said Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, who was a native of Rajouri and born in the Dogra tribe, made a great sacrifice to fight against the repressive regime of Mughals, who were bent upon converting Hindus to Islam. The Sikhs attacked Sirhind on May 1770 under the leadership of Baba Banda Bhadur and not only defeated such evil forces, but also established the Sikh Raj after seeking the blessings of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Since then the day is observed as Sirhind Fateh Divas. Kathavachak appealed the parents to provide modern as well as the traditional education to their children so that they prosper in their career and follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. The devotees also participated in a langar on the occasion. A shop containing various religious belongings were also displayed at the gate of Gurdwara consisting of kadas, patkas and other things associated with the Sikh Gurus. Harjendar Singh, the shop owner from Amritsar, said he came to Mussoorie especially for this day to promote true values of the Sikhism among the youth so that they remained in touch with their religion. The festivities ended with grand fireworks at night. Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee member Kanwaljeet Singh, president GS Manchanda and others were present on the occasion.
	GMVN Staff Strike Fissures over ending stir come to the fore Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 14 A day after 2,000 GMVN employees called off their indefinite strike in pursuit of demands of regularisation of daily and contractual employees and withdrawal of decentralisation policy, fissures between the management and union and, between both factions - the Rishikesh-based Employees Association and Dehradun-based Employees Union came to the surface on the matter of ending the strike. Yesterday, Purushotam Puri, President of Employees Union, informed of calling off their strike, he alleged they were holding it with the Employees Association. A claim rebuffed by UC Kabadwal, GM Tourism. He said the union had no option but to call off as they were merely standing by the association as supporters and not in individual capacity. Therefore, when the association decided to call off, they too had to budge. He also said the union was supposed to go on strike on May 15, a notice of which was given to the management 15 days before, not at this time. He lamented the obdurate attitude of the union which asked the deadline to deliver result should be May 30 instead of June 11 as fixed by management and association in consensus. “I talked the matter with the Managing Director (MD), GMVN and thereafter informed the union of MD’s decision that there was no sense in fixing two dates close to each other for same purpose, something to which union finally relented. Now, the final date is June 11 by which GMVN is confident of fulfilling the demands of employees by convincing state government to act on them,” said Kabadwal. Peeved at the version presented by Kabadwal, the union President said, “It is true that we had given notice to go on strike on May 15 but when the Employees Association stirred a strike on the behest of daily wagers earlier, then we too extended support as we shared the common cause. Now, there is no question for us to go on strike on May 15.” He also denigrated management for paying no heed to the notice given to them which precipitated the strike. On the dithering of date of deadline, he said the Employees Association at Rishikesh ditched us by succumbing to the pressure of management so early and that too without taking them into confidence, otherwise they could have elicited much better response from management in lesser time. But since they bowed down, so union had to toe the line. “We tried to make better of the prevailing situation by urging management to decide earlier than the fixed date but again now being in stronger position with strike ending, they asked us to wait for another 10 days, which is not a tall order any way as far as the welfare of employees is concerned.”
	Devotees have peaceful bhandara at Rajaji Park Tribune News Service Haridwar, May 14 In what was being assumed to be a volatile situation with the Rajaji National Park authorities and devotees coming face to face on having religious rituals at Chamunda Devi Temple turned out to be a peaceful one. After the talks between the park administration and Andolankari Samiti members, the bhandara was held way below the actual temple site. Thus, the major controversy of devotees entering the park premise for the bhandara and other puja rituals was averted. Bhandara was performed at outside the park purview near the famous Bilkeshwar Maha Dev temple. Followers of the deity participated in large numbers at the bhandara sitting in lines peacefully taking the prasad. Notably, last year there was a major confrontation between the devotees, including saints, with the park administration over performing of rituals at the temple site, which comes under the park area. As the Raja Ji National Park is a restricted forest area the park administration doesn’t allow any mass gathering in the area, while devotees wanted to perform rituals at the temple site itself which created the controversy. Initially the devotees had threatened of performing the rituals at the temple site in side the forest area, but later after much deliberation, agreed to perform rituals outside the forest area, which diffused the tensed situation.
	State faces medical staff crunch Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 14 Despite its best efforts, the state Health Department is unable to bridge the gap between demand and supply of medical personnel in the state. The worst affected are districts of Rudraprayag, Bageshwar, Champawat, Chamoli and Uttarakashi with scarce human resources at each level. Even the contractual employment of medical personnel seems to have backfired as a majority of them after receiving appointment letters have so far not joined and are now spending most of their time shooting letters to the higher authorities in the hope that the venue of their posting could be changed to plain areas. Their selections were made only for remote areas. Against the total sanctioned posts of 2,230 of medical personnel at the directorate and various hospitals in the state, only 937 medical personnels are currently working and 1,293 posts are vacant. The vacancies are right from the top-most level of Director General, Director, Additional Director, Joint Director (specialist cadre), Joint Director (general cadre), Senior Level Medical Officer (general cadre), Medical Officer (specialist cadre), Medical officer (general cadre). In the dental cadre, against the 78 sanctioned posts, only 39 dentists have been appointed. “The government has appointed 153 allopathic doctors on contractual basis with 20 specialists and 145 ayurvedic doctors and 39 dentists also on contractual basis at state allopathic dispensaries,” said Dr HC Bhatt, Director Medical Services. Last year, the similar problem had cropped up when almost al doctors appointed on contractual basis had somehow managed to get themselves deployed in the plains. The government then was forced to cancel all appointments after a Right to Information application was filed. If the doctors are being sent in to brace up the medical infrastructure in the hills, lack of essential infrastructure, like good schools and colleges is acting as the biggest drawback for most of them. The biggest losers are then the people of the hills. Doctors and the medical staff are not keen to give their services in the villages, an uninviting proposition for the sons of the soil, who would rather be posted in the towns for a bright future.
	Murder victim identified Tribune News Service Nainital, May 14 The man found murdered and buried in a heap of sand in Rudrapur has been identified as Chhatrapal Patel of Kanthariya in Bareilly. It is learnt that he had previously been working as a Principal of a small school in his village and for the past some time, had been working as a security guard at an industrial unit in Rudrapur. His family members told the police that he had been residing at Krishna Nagar Colony on rent. However, the motive of his murder and the identity of the assailants are still unknown. The police were able to get the victim identified on the basis of a stamp of a private school that was found in his pocket. The discovery of the body buried in sand in a thickly populated locality had created a sensation in Rudrapur. It was on Wednesday afternoon that some children playing in the premises of a building under construction at the Raja Colony in Transit Camp area stumbled across the body that lay buried in a heap of sand that was to be used for construction. The scared children had informed the passers by and gradually a large number of people had gathered at the spot. The deceased bore injury marks on his head and it is being assumed that he had been hit by a hammer-like object. It is also being assumed that he was killed somewhere else and the body was dumped at the spot. A blood-stained sack was also found nearby.
	Two caught for murder of cement trader Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 14 The police has arrested two persons in connection with the murder of Saharanpur based cement trader Naeem who was found dead in fields near ISBT on April 24 in Dehradun. Two others involved in the killing, including a woman has reportedly been absconding, told sources. Blood soaked body of Naeem who was in his mid-twenties was found in the fields near ISBT. The face was badly bludgeoned with stones in order to conceal his identity. The recovery of body in the fields had sent villagers in fear and they had brought the matter to the knowledge of police later. The post mortem revealed that he died of strangulation. The police had found that he was a native of Saharanpur and a case of him gone missing was registered on April 21 in Saharanpur. The sources revealed a woman had called on Naeem to come to Dehradun over phone on April 21. She was reportedly with Naveen and Arshad when she met Naeem at ISBT. Besides these two, one more man was with her. After spending some time at the IBST they all went to the fields where he was killed by strangulating. The police has caught Naveen and Arshad in this connection and is looking for the others involved.
	Man held with pistols, fake currency Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 14 The Dehradun police nabbed a native of Muzzafarnagar with a gun, 14 country-made pistols and six cartridges at the Ring Road in Raipur here yesterday. The police also seized fake currency amounting to Rs 1,000 from his possession. Addressing a press conference here today, city Superintendent of Police Jagatram Joshi said 10 fake notes of Rs 100 denomination and a bike (UA-07-J-3414) were also seized. The SP said the suspect Shamim was caught during a vehicle-checking drive on the Ring Road in Raipur. He had come here to supply the material to one Sanjay but was caught on the way while he was coming on his motorcycle. He told the police that he had come to Dehradun three days back and had supplied Sanjay with some bullets. He had later gone back to Muzzafarnagar to fetch more such stuff to supply to the same person. He had already been to jail in the Muzzafarnagar police station. All these weapons are made in Muzzafarnagar and were being supplied in Dehradun, Haridwar, Meerut, Bijnour and Muzzafarnagar, said the suspect. The Doon police will now contact the Muzzafarnagar police to expose the persons behind the incident.